Containers, cartons, boxes, placards and the like are commonly formed from a planar substrate such as cardboard, although other material may be used. The substrate is often printed with graphics, and may be scored and/or cut to form a not necessarily rectangular advertising medium, among other applications. It may be desired to cut (and/or score) the substrate around the perimeter of a pre-printed graphics, for example, which perimeter may be along a locus having varying direction, or along the dimensions of a box on which the pre-printed graphics should be positioned.
In some applications, the substrate may be cut first and then be printed with graphics. These various operations are sometimes referred to as short run cutting and scoring. Although short run operations can be carried out in various ways, it is always desired that cutting be in proper alignment with graphics, and that good speed and efficiency, collectively “throughput”, be maintained during the various processing operations. Note that by “short run production” is meant the production of a relative low volume.
FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary prior art automated short run cutting and scoring system 10 that cuts a planar substrate 20 that typically is pre-printed with encoded-into-print instructions 30, registration or alignment marks 40 (hereafter collectively denoted registration marks), and typically graphics 50. The terms “encoded instructions” or “bar-encoded instructions” will be used hereinafter to refer to such encoded-into-print instructions, and the term “barcode” will be used to describe an exemplary format of such instructions as printed onto the substrate. Encoded instructions 30 typically include metric information such as customized cutting instructions for the specific substrate being processed, individual adjustments to be made from a standard template set of cutting instructions, and/or a set of cutting instructions.
In FIG. 1, movement of substrates 20 through system 10 will be generally from left-to-right. A feed mechanism 60 moves substrate 20 to a typically static station region 70, and the substrate is loaded into station 70 whereat substrate cutting will occur, for example responsive to the metrics represented by the encoded instructions 30. While feed mechanism 60 is depicted in FIG. 1 as a continuous conveyor belt, mechanism 60 is intended to be exemplary and generic, and may instead comprise stations whereat vertical stacks of substrates are processed.
Before cutting can occur, it is necessary that the just-loaded substrate be properly positioned and aligned at station 70, and on occasion manual intervention is required. Achieving and confirming proper positioning and alignment of the substrate before cutting occurs can be time consuming relative to overall throughput of system 10, and is relatively difficult to achieve.
At station 70, a sensor system 80 optically tries to locate and read bar encoded instructions 30. In some prior art application, bar encoded instructions can assist in more rapidly locating pre-printed registration marks 40 upon the sensor-facing surface of the substrate. Sensor system 80 may include a camera system and an associated computer system 90 to control operation of feed mechanism 60, and thus movement of substrate 20.
It is common in the prior art to use an edge of the just-loaded substrate as a reference to geometry printed on the substrate surface. However in practice, the edge of a substrate is not always sufficiently accurate to ensure that graphics are consistently located at a position a known distance from the substrate edge. Understandably if the graphics are not quite properly aligned relative to the substrate edge, when the substrate is cut, the cut-line might go through rather than around the graphics, or generate graphics that are not accurately positioned in the final folded box.
In a prior art system 10, unless the substrate can be perfectly aligned relative to the cutting table, it is necessary to modify the cutting plan based upon knowledge of such positional alignment error. Determination of such positional error and correction to the cutting plan occurs while substrate 20 is stationary at station 70. During this stationary period, feed mechanism 60 will also be stationary, for example responsive to a control signal output from computer system 90.
After computer system 90 determines position of the stationary substrate and makes any modifications to the cutting plan to compensate for positional misalignment of the substrate on the cutting table, cutting can commence at station 70. Sensor system 80 outputs a signal to computer system 90, which in turn will command cutting system 110 to cut (or score) the substrate, which is stationary at station 70. As noted, cutting can be responsive to encoded instructions present in bar codes 30 or may be responsive solely to instructions already present in computer system 90. As noted, it is desired that cutting occur in acceptable locations relative to the graphics and the desired cut and fold lines for the substrate.
Upon completion of the cutting operation at station 70, system 10 perhaps under control of computer system 90 re-starts feed mechanism 60, and the cut substrate, denoted 20′ in FIG. 1, is moved off (or unloaded from) static station region 70 to an output side of system 10. At the input feed side of system 10, the next-in-line substrate 20 is moved onto region 70, whereupon feed mechanism 60 is halted. The above-described process is repeated for the new substrate, which after it is cut is moved to the output side of system 10 and unloaded from system 70.
What is needed is a computerized method and system to enable substrates pre-printed with graphics, reference alignment marks, and encoded-into-print instructions bar encoded data to be dynamically examined while being positioned on a cutting table region, and to have any required corrections made dynamically to a relevant cutting plan before cutting occurs. Such a method and system should require minimal operator intervention, and should exhibit substantially improved throughput. Further such system should lend itself to automated low volume sample production applications, in addition to full production run applications.
Aspects of the present invention provide such a computerized method and system, and substrates so cut.